Worthing F.C.
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| Full name | Worthing Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Rebels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1886 (as Worthing Association) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Woodside Road, Worthing, West Sussex (Capacity 4,000) |
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| Chairman | Dave Agnew | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Alan Pook & Danny Bloor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | Isthmian League Division One South | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–08 | Isthmian League Division One South , 5th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Worthing Football Club are an English association football club based in Worthing, West Sussex, currently playing in the Isthmian League Division One South.
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[edit] History
The club was formed as Worthing Association FC (a name that lasted until 1899) in February 1886 and played friendlies and Sussex Senior Cup ties for the first few years of their existence.
In 1896 the club became founder members of the West Sussex Senior League, where they were league champions on seven occasions. In May 1900 the club absorbed local rivals Worthing Athletic and a year later moved to its current home, then known as the Sports Ground, now as Woodside Road. In 1905 another rival team, Worthing Rovers, was also absorbed.
In 1920 Worthing became founder members of the Sussex County League, where once again they won eight league titles, in fact in the twenty seasons prior to World War II they only finished outside the top four on two occasions.
In 1948-49 Worthing joined the Corinthian League but met with little success. In 1963 the Corinthian League disbanded and most of its clubs joined the newly created Athenian League Division One, where Worthing won promotion at the first attempt, although after three seasons in the Premier Division, two successive relegations saw them drop to Division 2.
After managing a return to the top division, Worthing joined the Isthmian League in 1977, initially in Division Two, but by 1983 they had reached the Premier Division under manager Barry Lloyd and in fact finished as runners-up in 1983-84 and 1984-85. After Lloyd's deparature to Brighton & Hove Albion, however, the club soon slipped back down to Division Two, finishing bottom of Division One in the 1990-91 season with only 10 points and having conceded a huge 157 goals.
Former Northern Ireland international Gerry Armstrong was appointed manager in 1991 and in 1992-93 led the club to promotion back to Division One, which was followed two years later by a return to the Premier Division under John Robson, although Worthing finished bottom in their first season back in the Premier Division and were to remain in Division One until 2004 when the re-organisation of the English football league system saw them moved back to the Premier Division. They were relegated at the end of the 2006–07 season.
The youngest ever player to play for Worthing was Adam Mitchell who was aged 16 and 157 days. Mitchell's debut was on the 27th of January where The Rebels lost 2-1 to Burgess Hill Town in a league game.[citation needed]
[edit] Rivals
- 1. Bognor
- 2. Lewes
[edit] Squad
- Goalkeepers
- Rikki Banks
- Steve Phillips
- Defenders
- Stuart Axten
- Andy Lutwyche (Retired)
- Roy Pook
- Joe Keehan
- Enzo Benn
- Andy Alexander
- Dominic Douglas (dual signed with Eastbourne Borough)
- Paul Rodgers (retiring at end of season)
- Midfielders
- Karly Akehurst
- Marc Pulling
- Misiu Mlynowski
- Ben Johnson
- Scott Kirkwood
- Jerahl Hughes (on loan from Yeovil)
- Steve Metcalf (on loan to East Preston)
- Matt Phelan
- James Hancock
- Forwards
- Adam Mitchell
- Jamie Brotherton
- Richard Hudson
- Ben Andrews (c)
- Terry Dodd
[edit] Club records
- Best league performance: 2nd in Isthmian League Premier Division, 1983-84 and 1984-85
- Best FA Cup performance: 2nd round proper, 1982-83
- Best FA Amateur Cup performance: Quarter-finals, 1907-08
- Best FA Trophy performance: 4th round, 2003-04
- Best FA Vase performance: 5th round, 1978-79
[edit] Sources
- Worthing at the Football Club History Database
